Pour it in yer tank and use it as fuel injector cleaner, a few tbsns at a time <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" /> Beats emissions testing every time <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />

methanol is a little better in colder weather as its boiling point is lower than ethanol 65*C vs 78*C however this matters mostly for pressurized stoves. (I used a wick based stove with denatured alcohol at -16*C with no problems at all.)

Everclear should be ethanol. Do you know the "proof?" The higher proof an alcoholic beverage is, the higher the % alcohol compared to water. Water decreases the burning temperature, and the heat produced. In fact, if one wished to slow down his stove, he could dribble a small amount of water into the burning stove. Very carefully, and at one's own risk, of course.

As Campermom states there is water naturally in these distilled products. I'm wondering if it would work to make 100 proof if you filtered out the water before using any of these products? Using a similiar filter to a gasoline car filter should do the trick as they are manufactured to retain the water from your gas line. That's why if your car starts driving poorly after a fillup it's wise to get the filter changed first as it's the cheapest fix for 'hesitation' <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />

Just run a funnel in one end and a tube into an empty container of same fluid being filtered and wha- la! instant 100 proof <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/ooo.gif" alt="" /> Now back to building my still....where did I put that roll of copper tubing <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />

Yes, I actually took everclear on my WCT hike this june to dual purpose my fuel. every camp I cooked on a fire meant two more ounces of "fuel" at "white trash night" at tsuisat falls. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

It may be rot gut, but it's weight efficient, and it's pretty good in peppermint tea <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

I usually use methanol - I don't drink that <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

I bought it several years ago to use as a base for flavored "Liqueurs". They actually turned out pretty darn good.

I made Liqueurs with lemon, lime, orange and tangerine zest, but my main goal was to make "Rosolio", an Italian Rose Liqueur. It turned out ok, but it wasn't near as good as a taste I got about 17 years ago of some made in Sicily about 15 years before then. A restaurant owner bought it on a trip to Sicily and it had sat on a shelf behind the bar unopened all that time. My wife and I were the first to ever ask to taste it. It taste like the sweetest rose you've ever stopped to smell. You can't buy it the States. No one imports it. I made some as a Valentine gift for my wife about 4-5 years ago. You drink it from Chocolate Shot Glasses and eat them when your finished, then the fun begins <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

I took some of the orange liqueur on a backpack trip a few years ago and mixed it with "Constant Comment Tea". That was pretty tasty and it's a lot lighter than beer <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

Earthling,Filtering alcohol. Yes, that is exactly how you get concentrations over 100 Proof (50%)- by filtering alcohol through a drying agent such as silica jell. About the best you can do by distillation is 60% but that is expensive - which is why they call 50% 100 Proof - it was the practical limit before other drying technologies became available.

Alcohol absorbs water from the air until it reaches between 6% and 9% water. That's why you see alcohol concentrations of from 91% to 94%. You can make truely anhydrous alcohol, but storing it so it does not absorb water from the air is the main challenge.

Some better stove making directions and hours of winter time stove makeing endevours can be found at Zen Stoves

As far as Everclear, yes it is grain alcy as someone asked. Back in the day I used to drink it straight out of the bottle. I could get through about a half of a fith before I had to stop. Then again those were dark days and a not so great period of my life. I switched adictions to bicycling and backpacking, which are so much more fin and better for me now. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

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I miss my 4.8lb base weight as a ground dweller. But I sure don't miss the ground.

Bill, how did you make the Rosolio? With roses, rose water, or rose geranium, or something else? I've made limoncello with Everclear, just adjusted the amount of water I added, and that turned out pretty well. I've never tasted Rosolio but it sounds like something I would love.

Spock, thanks for the science behind my question. I knew alcohol was hydroscopic, was just thinking of a way to lower the water content. That's why in all the seasons except Summer I try to keep my fuel tanks as full as possible to prevent condensation in the tanks because it also gets into the gasline and causes hesitation by impeding the flow of actual gasoline to the engine <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />

I believe as well, that when you get it down to those anhydrous concentrations it (more so than always) makes more funky radicals as things oxidize when exposed to air. My darling mother (who went to berkeley in the 60's getting a PHd in chemistry) explained that they used to do the heavy duty filtering thing to crank the concentration way up for parties, but they had to very carefully store it under nitrogen and use it by adding to water quickly - if you did that everything was fine - if you let the high concentration stuff sit out it formed lots of funky free radicals with exposure to oxygen - which in turn produced the killer hangovers for which the stuff is legendary.

Having said that - anythign over 90 is just fine for stove fuel <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

What kind of a wick based stove are you using? I've been experimenting with alcohol stoves for a while now and am surprised that there aren't more wick based designs on the web as that is how so many of the marine stoves work.

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If I wouldn't eat it at home, why would I want to eat it on the trail?